THE Modi visit to the United States had three major events. The first in-person meeting with President Joe Biden; the meeting of the leaders of the Quad countries; and the speech at the UN General Assembly.The kept media in India have painted the visit in rosy colours and uncritically conveyed the official version of what transpired in the bilateral meeting with President Biden, in the meetings with Vice President Kamala Harris and the outcome of the Quad meetings.
THE Bharat Bandh on September 27, 2021 was truly historic. In breadth, sweep and intensity, it surpassed the earlier two Bharat Bandhs in solidarity with the unprecedented farmers’ struggle, on December 8, 2020 and March 26, 2021.
THE recent Quad leaders meeting in the White House on September 24 appears to have shifted focus away from its original framing as a security dialogue between four countries, the US, India, Japan and Australia. Instead, the US seems to be moving much closer to Australia as a close strategic partner and providing it with nuclear submarines.Supplying US nuclear submarines that use bomb-grade uranium violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency protocols.
THE Assam government led by the BJP, which has been dehumanising the religious minority community members of East Bengal origin by calling them "termites", is now evicting them from their homes to give the land away for farming to 'indigenous' people. Ironically, the controversial phrase 'indigenous of Assam' is yet to be defined by any constitutional bodies or authorities.The ruthless eviction drive on September 23 led to the killing of two poor Muslims and injuries to many others by the police under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
THE International Monetary Fund has announced a fresh issue of $650 billion Special Drawing Rights in August which would be distributed among member countries in proportion to their IMF quotas.
IN the meeting of the BJP women's wing held on September 7, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath made tall claims about women's security. According to him, before he came to power, girls could not go to school; it was unsafe to walk on the road. And after his arrival, women can go out of the house fearlessly. Yogi Adityanath claims that whatever good is happening for women is because of him and Modi.In 2022, the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled and thus, such false claims are a ploy to whitewash the anti-people, anti-women activities during Yogi's tenure.
THOUSANDS of people participated in the human chain programme held on September 15, 2021, in various parts of the state demanding the release of the accused of the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. These actions also demanded the repeal of UAPA and draconian acts also. The call for a human chain programme was given by the joint platform of Left, Democratic, Periyarist, Ambedkarite, Progressive organisations of Tamil Nadu - ‘Movement for the Release of Prisoners of Bhima Koregaon conspiracy – Tamil Nadu and Puducherry’.
THE New York Times (NYT) has recently published an article (September 14, 2021) detailing how politics overrode science in India's deadly second wave. It is based on the struggle of a young scientist, Dr Anup Agarwal, who sought to warn the top scientific and health agency Indian Council of Medical Research, of a second wave and that a policy based on the so-called Super Model would prove a disaster for the country. Dr Agarwal has since then left the country.Dr Agarwal was not the only one who had warned the government.